Ask anyone from Penang, and chances are char kuih teow is in the list of their favorite hawker dishes. So for those Penangites living in Klang Valley, there’s always a constant urge to find a good plate of char kuih teow.
So when a colleague who was also from Penang talked about this CKT place at Imbi, I knew that we will surely have to try this over lunch time, even thought it meant a good 1km+ walk under the sun.
Mei Sin kopitiam Char Kueh Teow stall
Mei Sin eating shop is a kopitiam just off Jalan Imbi, and just like another famous kopitiam nearby – Win Heng Seng, this one is usually packed with white, blue, and no collar workers during lunch hours.
glorious char kuih teow, just need even bigger prawns actually
We went there by around 12 p.m. and the crowd was just building up. The char kuih teow we ordered (of course I ordered in Penang Hokkien, always as a litmus test) took just 15 minutes or so to arrive.
The plate of RM 4.50 goodness came with lightly cooked cockles, prawns (medium size), egg, kuih teow, bean sprouts, and of course, chives. It was lovely, spicy, full of “wok hei”, and positively delicious.
I would rate this place a little better than the CKT stall at Win Heng Seng a stone’s throw away.
Sheng loves the CKT, and do try the fresh yao char kuai too
When you are at Mei Sin kopitiam, don’t miss out on the yao char kuai too. The freshly deep fried yao char kuai I had was very crispy and had just the right amount of saltiness with it. I wished there were some bak kut teh soup to go with, but I guess kopi-o wouldn’t be a bad substitute either. The yao char kuai place seems to be off on Thursdays.
Address:
Restaurant Mei Sin
No. 16, Jalan Melati
Off Jalan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14396, 101.714768
Back in 2007 I wrote a blog post about this char kueh teow place in PJ State, it was the best char kueh teow I’ve in Klang Valley.
A couple years after that blog post, the kopitiam, along with the char kueh teow stall closed down. It was a tragedy, I was trying to look for a replacement go-to char kueh teow since then, a few other places came close, but none gave me that same “wok hei” in a plate of CKT as this stall
Still the best CKT in Klang Valley for me
Fortunately, the very same CKT is now back in PJ State, this time operating in the popular kopitiam next to UOB bank (the kopitiam also has very good roti bakar, seafood porridge, and braised duck at night).
I know it’s the same stall cos I can remember the operator, and interestingly enough he still recognizes me as fellow Penangites who moved to KL. He started operating CKT in this new location after an (I’m guessing unsuccessful) venture into operating a kopitiam.
I’m so glad this CKT man is back
The CKT itself is still just as good as I remember. It’s oily, spicy, and comes with all the ingredients you’d expect in a plate of proper CKT – cockles, prawns, Chinese sausage, bean sprouts, and the slightly wider version of kueh teow that is used here.
If you are looking for a plate of good char kueh teow, look no further than this plate of goodness at RM 4. 
Address:
8 Jalan Tengah
Off Jalan Yong Shook Lin
Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.099378, 101.644478
A few months ago Haze and I were at Segambut looking for an ATM machine, we arrived at RHB bank at Jalan Segambut Tengah and parked the car just in front of Kedai Makanan Hoi Kee.
Sitting just outside the kopitiam there was an uncle busy deep frying some sort of meat with irresistible aroma. I walked over to find out what he was doing, it was a Sunday.
restaurant Hoi Kee at Segambut
“Oh, this pork belly, for nasi lemak and we’re open from Monday to Saturday for breakfast and lunch”
And the good uncle gave us each a piece of that pork belly to chew on. The memory of that piece of pork belly deep fried with 5 spice (from what I can tell) and god knows what other spices was so awesome I knew I just had to visit the stall to taste the nasi lemak for sure.
glorious nasi lemak with pork belly
I’ve since been to the same kopitiam 2 more times but missed out the nasi lemak (finished, had very curry mee instead, will blog about that eventually). But last week, on the 3rd try, I finally got it!
The nasi lemak with pork “set” comes with 2 pieces of the pork belly, some silver fish (instead of ikan bilis), a quarter hard boiled egg, kang kung, sambal with shallots, cucumber, and of course, that fragrant coconut rice. The whole thing was about RM 5 or so.
and I finished everything, clean
Was it good? Absolutely.
Would I go back again? For sure!
Another pork nasi lemak can be found at PJ’s 6-10 Nasi Lemak and Grill, but they are very different though.
Address:
Kedai Kopi & Makanan Hoi Kee
No. 2, Jalan Segambut Tengah,
Segambut, 51200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.18564, 101.67633
The Bukit Bintang area in KL gives an impression of luxury and all that is modern, however, tucked just behind Starhill exists some of the most old school of places you’d find anywhere in this country.
One of these hidden is the kopitiam with an unorthodox name – Blue White Teow Chew Porridge
say hello to Jenny, she is a Sarawakian
So when Jenny (Irene’s sister whom we went to Sipadan dive trip last year) came to KL and had her fair share of food court and franchised restaurants, I suggested that we head to this kopitiam for some old fashion pork noodle, one of my favorite hawker dishes.
traditional pork noodle with all the good stuff, RM 5
The pork noodle comes with either dry or soup version at RM 5 a pop. There’s plenty of pork slices, minced pork, liver, and intestine. Some vegetable, scallion, fried shallots, and fried lard in a sweet and pretty tasty broth.
The difference between the two versions is of course, the soup version has the noodle (choices of vermicelli, kueh teow, yellow noodle, or meesuah) in soup, while the dry version has the noodle served separately with some dark soya based sauce and more scallions.
comes in dry version too, and of course extra lard for those with suicidal intent
I love both versions just the same, the kopitiam gets quite packed at typical lunch hours so do try to avoid the 1pm curse. Oh, it’s pretty warm in there too so don’t be wearing your jackets!
Address:
Blue White Teow Chew Porridge Kopitiam
Jalan Gading, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14622, 101.71415
One of the things I love most about Thailand is their hawker foods. It is true that they serve excellent tomyam, pad thai, and ladna at just about any corner, but one of my favorite breakfast dishes in the land of smile has gotta be the noodle soup.
noodle soup stall by the road side
On the last day of the trip while off-gassing from diving at Phuket, we went over to a pretty inconspicuous stall right across the street of the budget hotel we’ve been staying at (Baan Suan Place, cheapest room rate at 700 baht/night, next to Phuket International Hospital).
Though there were quite a few eateries of similar set up at the area, but I knew we got the right place soon as I saw those coagulated blood in the jar displayed at the front of the stall. *slurps*
noodle soup with all sorts of ingredients, take your pick!
A few finger pointing gestures and some 10 minutes later, here’s the bowl of goodness that arrived on my table. Big flat rice noodle in subtle yet flavorful clear broth topped with cuttle fish, coagulated blood, liver, pork, a bit of mushroom, vegetable, and even a bit of white fungus.
There’s also a plate of bean sprouts and some basil ala Vietnamese noodle style on the side, and of course plenty of potent chili powder as condiment for those who love it spicy.
when in Thailand, eat like a Thai
The noodle soup costs around 30-40 baht and this place also serves coffee and other drinks at around 10 baht. While this stall is situated at Thanon Bangyai road behind Phuket International Hospital, you can basically find similar stalls at just about anywhere in Southern Thailand (perhaps Central/Northern part too).
Now I wish someone would bring this to our local hawker stalls, Thai food here in Malaysia seems to be limited to tomyam, pineapple fried rice, and the occasional pad Thai only… pity.
Address:
Thanon Bangyai
Wichit, Mueang Phuket,
Phuket 83000, Thailand
GPS: 7.895477,98.365939
